Feb. 22, 2010 issue
MCC affirms Palestinian Christians’ call
By Gladys Terichow Mennonite Central CommitteePage:
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AKRON, Pa. — Palestinian Christian theologians and church leaders have issued a plea for an end to Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territories.
The territories include the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
In a document released in December, church leaders state the military occupation must end to establish peace between Palestinians and Israelis built on justice and equality.
The document — “Kairos Palestine, 2009, A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering” — was co-authored by more than a dozen Christian leaders.
Although Mennonite Central Committee was not directly involved in creating the document, its contents reflect what MCC has been hearing from its partner organizations in the region.
“Palestinian Christian leaders are asking for help,” said Daryl Byler, an MCC representative for Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. “The essential message of the letter is that we want to resolve the conflict in a nonviolent way, and we are appealing to the global church to help us do this.”
Byler said the document reflects the isolation the Christian leaders feel as they remind the global church community that the mission of the church is to walk in solidarity with oppressed people around the world.
“We have reached a dead-end in the tragedy of the Palestinian people,” say the Christian leaders. “What is the church doing? The problem is not just a political one. It is a policy in which human beings are destroyed, and this must be a concern to the church.”
Inspired by the success of a Kairos document written by South African church leaders in 1985, Palestinian church leaders hope the Kairos Palestine document will evoke debate and action. Kairos means special moment or opportune time in Greek.
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